GJMM youth wing slams TMC activities

Darjeeling, 24 July: The youth wing of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) today put up posters on walls in the heart of Darjeeling town, alleging that the ruling Trinamul Congress has been taking “undue advantage of the innocence of the people of Darjeeling hills.”

Such a move from the Morcha’s youth front comes barely a week after Chief Minister and the chief of the Trinamul Congress, Miss Mamata Banerjee, visited Darjeeling, met and shook hands with the GJMM and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) head Bimal Gurung at Richmond Hill here.

The people are now saying that the posters at Chowk Bazaar contradict the meeting of the top leaders of both the parties and their talk of taking ahead development works in the Hills.

In the posters, the youth wing condemned and alleged that the “atrocities of the ruling party on the people of Darjeeling never ceased to exist,” and criticised the Chief Minister’s words that she often utters–“Darjeeling is smiling.”

“We will not accept the authoritative rule of the Chief Minister where she continues to torment the people of the hills and says they are smiling,” the indirect translation of one of the posters reads.

They also questioned the “arrest spree” conducted by the administration during the recent statehood agitation, while pointing out that some GJMM supporters are still behind bars.

“We do not know what transpired between the Chief Minister and our party chief, but there are many things we are not satisfied with. Their (TMC) atrocities and authoritative rule has not ceased to exist in the hills. Many innocent people are being slapped with false charges. We are being viewed as criminals just because we are trying to exercise our constitutional right,” the spokesperson of the youth front, Mr Prakash Gurung, said.

“Our main demand is that Gorkhaland, and the ruling party has time and again intervened in our demand, while also hindering our right to speech and freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Indian Constitution,” he said.

Meanwhile, the youth front said it is organising a public meeting at Mela Ground in Kalimpong on 2 August to commemorate the self-immolation of Mangal Singh Rajput during the statehood agitation last year.

Darjeeling, July 24: The Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha today plastered posters against chief minister Mamata Banerjee here, days after Bimal Gurung met the chief minister in an indication of an improvement in their relations.

Sources in the Morcha said the parent organisation was officially dissociating itself from the youth wing’s activities as a strategy of trying to keep a working relation with the state government and creating enough noises in Darjeeling at the same time to attract the Centre’s attention.

The posters written in Nepali were found at Chowk Bazar in Darjeeling. One of the posters read: “We will not accept the suppressive administration of the chief minister who claims that the hills are smiling after tormenting the hill people.”

Another poster protested the “politicisation of the administration by the Trinamul Congress government”. There was also a poster that questioned the state administration’s alleged dual roles of arresting “innocent” people in the hills and letting Trinamul cadres involved in spreading terror in the rest of Bengal go scot-free.

Prakash Gurung, the GTA Sabha member of Rimbik-Lodhama and spokesman for the Yuva Morcha, said: “This is the beginning of our renewed programme for Gorkhaland. Our party was formed with a single point agenda, which is the creation of Gorkhaland and we will continue to work to achieve our dream. The BJP is in favour of creating smaller states and we cannot let go of this opportunity.”

He said the Yuva Morcha would organise a public meeting in Kalimpong on August 2 and was planning to hold dharnas and rallies in New Delhi when Parliament’s winter session starts in December.

Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha, said he was not aware of the Yuva Morcha’s posters. “I am not aware of the posters. This is not the Morcha’s central committee’s programme,” he said.

Sources in the Yuva Morcha said its leaders had met GTA Sabha chief executive Bimal Gurung in Darjeeling recently, but it was a closed-door meeting, so details about it were not available.

Told about the July 18 meeting between Gurung and Mamata in Darjeeling, Yuva Morcha spokesman Prakash Gurung said: “The meeting was between the heads of two administrative set-ups. The party is clear that our ultimate goal is Gorkhaland.”

On another front, there was no withdrawal of nine companies of CRPF from the hills today as claimed by Trinamul.

Akhilesh Kumar Chaturvedi, the superintendent of police, Darjeeling, said he had not received any communication on the issue.

Morcha youth wing pastes posters across town

CENSURING STATE GOVT

Darjeeling, 24 Jul 2014: Barely a week after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s closed-door tête-à-tête with Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung, which both described as “cordial” and “good”, the GJM youth wing today put up posters in town deriding the state government.

The posters of the Gorkha Janmukti Yuwa Morcha has accused the state government of misusing the state’s police to spread terror and panic in the hills, and says it will not tolerate the chief minister’s hegemony.

“The chief minister always harps about ‘Darjeeling smiling’ and peace prevailing in the region, but the state government continues its atrocities against the hill people. One way of intimidating the people is by continuing to deploy central forces. Therefore, is Darjeeling smiling under pressure?” asked GJYM spokesperson Prakash Gurung, who is also the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration sabhasad from Rimbick-Lodhoma constituency.

When reminded that the GJM leadership including Gurung had met the chief minister in Darjeeling recently and had even gone on to state the meeting was a positive step going forward, the youth leader said, “Relations between the GTA and the state government is presently undergoing a revival. However, the GJYM has its own agenda and programmes.”

During Banerjee’s stay in Darjeeling on July 16-18, the GJM president had met her at a government guest house where she had lodged. Although Gurung did not divulge what transpired in the meeting, he acknowledged it had gone well. Later, GTA sabhasads, the three MLAs of the hills and GTA general secretary Roshan Giri also attended a development review meeting convened by Banerjee at the district magistrate’s office and addressed a joint press briefing afterwards.

Turning back to the GJYM, the posters it has put up across town also condemns the arrest of senior party leaders. “While TMC activists and leaders are spreading terror across the state, none has been arrested. But innocent people in the hills are being detained for no reason whatsoever,” reads a poster put up at Chowk Bazar in the heart of town.

The youth front spokesperson explained their poster-pasting campaign is part of a programme to strength the organisation and take forward the statehood demand.

“We hope to achieve a separate state within the next five years. Gorkhaland is our fundamental right and we don’t want to stay in Bengal any longer. The youth front will be holding numerous programmes in the days to come to champion our ultimate aspiration,” said Prakash Gurung.

The first of the programmes pursuing statehood will be held on August 2 in Kalimpong. It will be a tribute to Mangal Singh Rajput, a Kalimpong resident who immolated himself last year during the height of the second round of the GJM’s statehood agitation.

However, central committee leaders of the GJM have washed their hands off the GJYM posters.

“I am not aware about any poster being put up in town. The central committee has nothing to do with it, It could be a programme initiated by youth wing,” said GJM general secretary Giri when asked for his comment.

Former hill TMC general secretary NB Khawas, now known as the party’s senior leader (as a new committee has not been formed since the previous one got dissolved earlier this year) said the posters are a disingenuous ploy of the GJM and are meant to confuse the general public.

“Peace is reigning in the hills at present. The TMC is not involved in any terror activities. Instead it is the GJM who is inciting and confusing the people for its selfish interests,” he claimed.

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